3 top Oakland schools at risk of closure

OAKLAND City to determine fate of high-scoring but troubled charters

Updated 10:37 pm, Monday, February 18, 2013

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

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Eighth-grade teacher Stacey Adams (right) checks on Angie Zhu and Vincent Nguyen. The language arts class has already reached the last chapter of the textbook this year at the American Indian charter school.

Eighth-grade teacher Stacey Adams (right) checks on Angie Zhu and Vincent Nguyen. The language arts class has already reached the last chapter of the textbook this year at the American Indian charter school.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

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Physical education teacher Daniel Eng gives instructions to Emma Fisher as another student listens in at the American Indian Public Charter School in Oakland. The school is among those with the highest test scores in the state. less

Physical education teacher Daniel Eng gives instructions to Emma Fisher as another student listens in at the American Indian Public Charter School in Oakland. The school is among those with the highest test ... more

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

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Lawrence Wong teaches eighth-grade literature at the American Indian charter school in Oakland.

Lawrence Wong teaches eighth-grade literature at the American Indian charter school in Oakland.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

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The desk of Jesus Tellitud, 14, is decorated with a class assignment on the novel "Of Mice and Men" at the American Indian Public Charter School on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 in Oakland, Calif.

The desk of Jesus Tellitud, 14, is decorated with a class assignment on the novel "Of Mice and Men" at the American Indian Public Charter School on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 in Oakland, Calif.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

3 top Oakland schools at risk of closure

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Three of the highest-performing schools in the state are on the verge of being shut down by the Oakland school board, a decision that will pit passionate students and parents against district officials trying to safeguard taxpayer cash.

The schools have been scrutinized for financial impropriety, which includes funneling $3.8 million to founder and former director Ben Chavis and his wife through real estate deals, consulting and other services, raising conflict of interest and ethical issues. The schools and Chavis are being investigated by the Alameda County district attorney's office.

Problems must be fixed

Unless the charter schools immediately address accounting problems, adequately address conflict of interest issues and prove all public funds are being, and will be, spent appropriately, the schools could close, requiring almost 700 American Indian charter students to find new schools by the fall.

Schools cannot be judged solely on test scores, said Oakland Unified board member Jody London, noting the district is ultimately responsible for safeguarding the public funds flowing into the charters.

"We have to make sure if their board isn't doing due diligence and they aren't spending public money properly," London said. "You cannot take the public's money."

A public hearing is expected on Feb. 27 and a final vote on March 20 to decide the fate of the three schools, which include a fifth- through eighth-grade school in Chinatown and a middle and high school in the Laurel neighborhood.

Race to comply

American Indian charter officials - including a new interim director and board members - are now scrambling to comply with district demands after the previous leadership failed to acknowledge and address problems identified last year.

"There are things that need to be put in place - checks and balances," said Sylvester Hodges, the new interim director and former district school board member. "We're working on that."

The current crisis is the most recent in a long history of controversy at American Indian charters. The schools have drawn both rave reviews and sharp criticism for their rigid teaching methods and harsh discipline meted out by Chavis.

While the first American Indian charter opened in 1996, Chavis was hired to run it in 2001 and later added two more.

Chavis was known for humiliating students, swearing at them, and calling them names to keep them in line. Some families fled the harsh environment. But for those who stayed, it arguably worked academically.

Test scores soared, pushing the schools into the mid- to upper 900s out of 1,000 points on the state's Academic Performance Index.

The schools, which initially served some American Indian families as well as Latino and African American children, increasingly appealed to Asian students, who now comprise nearly 70 percent of the 700 students.

While Chavis retired in 2007, he continued to have financial and management ties to the schools and returned briefly in 2011 to work there full time.

Accounting issues

Last year, district officials and a state audit identified an array of accounting issues while reviewing the renewal application for the American Indian Charter School II, which serves fifth through eighth grade.

For example, Chavis owned the Chinatown space leased to the school despite his involvement in the management and finances of the charter organization. He signed checks to himself, a serious violation of accounting principles.

Chavis and the American Indian Model Schools board members justified the apparent conflict of interest, saying that Chavis gave the schools a discount, thus saving them money. But they were wrong, district officials said.

Chavis is charging the schools $1.09 per square foot per month, while the district charges $2.50 per square foot - annually. District space would cost the charter school nearly $700,000 less.

The charter schools recently renewed the lease with Chavis, and Hodges, who took over last month, hopes to amend or terminate the lease.

Chavis' bullying and intimidation techniques are also a thing of the past, Hodges said.

At the middle school on a recent day, students barely glanced up from textbooks when visitors entered classrooms. When a teacher asked a question, multiple hands shot up.

On one white board, the nightly homework included assignments in seven out of eight subjects.

In teacher Stacey Adams' eighth-grade classroom, the students were working on the last chapter in their language arts textbook, even though there are still more than three months left in the school year and just over 40 days until they take state standardized tests.

High scores not enough

The school is regimented, but not cruel, said sixth-grader Emma Fisher, 11.

"My whole life, school has been really, really easy," she said. "Now, it's more of a challenge. I really like that."

The preteen spends about 60 to 90 minutes on homework a night because she's "really fast."

"I would describe it as structured and efficient," she said.

Hodges vowed that humiliating and screaming at students will not be tolerated.

"If I find it, I'll go after it directly," he said. "I do not want to see that. It does not belong in the educational arena."

The positive academic aspects of the school are what remain, he said.

But the high test scores and parent support might not be enough to save the schools.

Oakland Unified officials said they have seen little progress in addressing the serious problems, but there is still time, said district spokesman Troy Flint.

"The door is open for that," he said. "But the changes need to be major, not just cosmetic."

If the Oakland school board votes to close the American Indian charters, the organization can still appeal to the Alameda County Office of Education and failing that, to the state Board of Education.

"The high achievement of the students - we are a model for other schools throughout the state," Hodges said. "I don't think OUSD wants to destroy or eliminate that."

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